§ Mr. LeeTo ask the Secretary of State for Health when the joint working group on nurse training and the independent care sector will publish its report.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyIn 1987 the then Chief Executive of the National Health Service Management Board and the Chief Nursing Officer of the Department of Health met with senior representatives of the independent health care sector to review the sector's contribution to nurse training. It was agreed that a joint working group should be established in order to identify the extent of the independent sector's capacity to increase its contribution to nurse training.
I have today arranged for copies of the group's report, "Training to Care" to be placed in the Library. The principal achievement is a clear commitment from private sector major providers and organisations representing the independent health care sector to increase their overall contribution to nurse training. This encouraging first step will be followed-up by discussion between representatives of the independent sector and the NHS management executive to explore ways of putting that commitment into practice.